A swarm of about 5,000 bees surprised a Surbiton family when it settled on a tree in their front garden.

The bees arrived in Heidi White's Westfield Road garden on Friday, May 6, and her family initially thought it was a swarm of wasps.

Miss White, 17, an English literature and photography student, said: "I remembered that my friend's father from up the road kept his own bees and suggested we ask him first, as he will probably know more about wasps than us anyway.

"His name is Keith McMahon and he is a member of Kingston Beekeepers.

"So we went up the road and told him we had a swarm of wasps, immediately he told us it was most likely a honey bee swarm but he came down to check anyway and it was as he suspected.

"He went home and got his gear and an extra set for me. While many neighbours watched from the other side of the road he moved the bees into a box.

"It took an hour and I watched and took photos as he talked me through it.

"After this he took the bees back to his home and kept them in his garden overnight, the next day he took them to where he keeps his other colonies.

"Over the weekend our tree still kept about 100 or so bees, however they all seem to have moved on now."

A number of swarms were reported in Kingston and Richmond last year, with one descending on the Ace of Spades roundabout.

Swarming is the natural means of reproduction of honey bee colonies.

A new honey bee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees, the remaining bees will then raise a new queen to carry on the old colony.

When they are swarming the bees are essentially harmless and are unlikely to sting.

If you see a swarm contact a beekeeper immediately, who will be able to remove it and keep the bees alive.